What I'd really like to understand is the meaning of "crap" in this context.

Microsoft was criticized for IE6 stagnation, so it re-formed the team and got to work. It was criticized for not having tabs, so it did tabs.

Then it was criticized for not being perfectly standards compliant, since IE5/6 predated the standards. So it worked on standards. And then it was criticized for that not being the default, so it broke IE5/6 compatibility - a huge leap in the dark - and shipped IE8, which gave everyone what they wanted, and struggled to gain any users in the process.

Now IE is just "crap." Not a good analysis of a clear deficiency, just "crap."

I don't work on IE, but I feel really bad for those guys right now. They've tried hard to give people what they want, and the result is just dismissive, unconstructive criticism.

Really, if you, the reader, want to see further standards compliance in IE, the best thing you can do is use IE8 to send a clear message that if Microsoft embraces standards, you will embrace Microsoft.